Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Albert Whitted Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St Petersburg, Florida 33701
Wednesday, July 17, 1996 14:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on a flight on the day after an annual inspection had been completed. After departing, he reported, the right engine was 'running rough.' The control tower cleared him for an emergency landing back at the airport. While returing, the pilot was unable to maintain altitude, and the flight impacted water about 1 mile south of the airport. According to the pilot's statement, he was flying westbound over water, when the right engine 'stopped.' He stated that he 'secured' the right engine, and about 1 minute later, the left engine 'stopped.' He 'secured' the left engine, and the airplane 'hit water.' The pilot stated that he was in the air about 15 minutes when the loss of engine power occurred. Examination of the right engine revealed, there was rusty water in the sediment bowl at the fire wall; rusty water and contamination were also found in the respective fuel servo screen. The left engine sediment bowl was found dry; the respective fuel servo screen was found with rust stains and contamination with 'trash' in the screen. The fuel selector valves operated without any discrepancies. No preimpact mechanical discrepancy was found with either engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of engine power due to fuel contamination, which resulted in a forced landing (ditching) in water. Factors relating to the accident were: an inadquate annual inspection by maintenance personnel, and an inadequate preflight inspection by the pilot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1435 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ST PETERSBURG |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33701 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALBERT WHITTED |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SPG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1318 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SPG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 13 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1846 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1525 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6819Y |
| NTSB Number | MIA96LA187 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-4158 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 16 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 4691 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FRANK F TONUZI |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2086 SWAN LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAFETY HARBOR |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34698 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | L C E INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SPG |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FD06 |
| Destination City | WATCHULA |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |